Roger R. Carter Labor and Employment Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says

Friday, January 8, 2010 by Roger R. Carter

Photo of Roger R. Carter

By Steven Greenhouse

According to a new study conducted in the first half of
2008 by the National Employment Law Project focused on workers in New York, Los
Angeles and Chicago, low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay
and are often paid less than the minimum wage. The breakdown of those surveyed
was 39% illegal immigrants, 31% legal immigrants and 30% native-born Americans.
In surveying various low-wage industries, it was found that the typical worker
would experience approximately 15% loss in pay per week due to wage violations.
Following are more statistics highlighted within the study:

  • Many small businesses feel forced to violate
    wage laws to remain competitive.
  • 68% of workers interviewed had experienced at
    least one pay-related violation the previous work week.
  • Only 8% of workers injured on the job filed for
    workers’ compensation, due to employers pressuring workers not to file.
  • 26% of the workers surveyed had been paid less
    than the minimum wage the week before being surveyed and 1 in 7 had worked off
    the clock.
  • 76% of those who had worked overtimes the week
    before were not paid their proper overtime.
  • 1 in 5 workers reported having filed a complaint
    about wages to their employer or tried to form a union in the previous year and
    43% had experienced some form of illegal retaliation, like firing or
    suspension.
Take a look at the following article to read the NELP Study: Broken Laws
Report 2009 in depth!   















 



 

 
Posted at 16:26 PM
Topic: Labor and Employment
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